Vitality Workshttp://www.vitalityworks.co.nz
Sanitarium WorkPlace HealthTue, 18 Dec 2018 04:16:20 +0000en-AUhourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.9The benefits of a digital wellbeing challengehttp://www.vitalityworks.co.nz/the-benefits-of-a-digital-wellbeing-challenge/
Sun, 18 Feb 2018 23:50:16 +0000http://www.vitalityworks.co.nz/?p=7793Going digital doesn’t have to mean ignoring the physical. We’re now living in a digital age; our workforce is mobile, our files are on the cloud, and our meetings are conducted online. But while this may have had an exceptionally positive impact on productivity, it hasn’t had the same influence on health.

We spend the majority of our waking hours at work. Beyond that, we need to commute, complete day-to-day chores, and run our households — it can be impossible to find time for yourself. If employees aren’t thinking about their health when they’re at work, they probably aren’t thinking about it at home, either. Organisations need to embrace digital tools, not only to increase their own operational efficiency but also to engage and help their employees. Healthy employees work harder, are more likely to stay with the business, and are less likely to require paid leave.

What better way to do this than a digital wellbeing challenge?

Benefits of digital wellbeing challenge

Digital wellbeing challenges are a new evolution of workplace health initiatives. Challenges such as Fit24 operate as both team-building and health-building exercises, bringing together a group of employees that can help each other meet health goals. This replaces older health initiatives, which were often met with reluctance and resentment.

Here are some of the principle advantages of a digital challenge:

It’s easy to integrate into your daily routine

From maintaining your grocery list to paying your bills, technology is now a part of your life in many ways. Modern employees are used to tracking an exceptional number of day-to-day tasks through their email, smartphone, and other devices. A digital wellbeing challenge takes advantage of this propensity to schedule out and track our days through technology.

When it comes to health and fitness, the most significant hurdle is simply building bad habits.

A digital wellbeing challenge leverages technology to integrate fitness and health into an employee’s daily routine. In Fit24, employees are automatically given goals at intervals and can log their results online. It is convenient, easy to use, and easy to keep track.

You can drive positive change through gamification

Gamification is one of the most effective methods of driving real, long-lasting change. Gamification provides positive feedback to a set of tasks, creating a positive reinforcement loop that encourages specific behaviours. Nearly every popular app, from Candy Crush to Facebook, uses a system of gamification to encourage users to engage.

For employees, gamification gives them direct, specific goals to work towards. Fit24 creates new goals at intervals, all designed to improve different aspects of employee health. As employees progress, they are visibly rewarded through points that they’ve earned. They can easily compare their success to those in their team or many others, so they know how well they’re doing at a larger scale.

Increase collaboration and team work

How do you get your employees to work productively together? Team work. And though many businesses do engage in team building exercises, the focus of these team building exercises are usually on the organisation itself rather than where it should be — the employees. Team work centred around health has some major advantages. Employees are already interested and invested in their own health.

Working with others to improve their health is a bonding experience, as others are helping them with a personal task. Ultimately, it helps employees grow closer, learn more about each other, and care about each other’s needs — all within a structure provided by Fit24. This type of collaboration can be especially challenging because it does require that all employees work together to be as successful as possible, and these skills will ultimately translate into their work.

At the end of their digital challenge, employees will be more aware of what they need to do to eat better, exercise more, and sleep well. This doesn’t just translate to happier, healthier employees; it translates to happier, healthier people.

Businesses need to take a holistic approach to their employee satisfaction, as so much of an employee’s life is wrapped up in their work. The more a business asks of their employees, the more they must also be prepared to give back — and in so doing, they’ll be able to improve the top and bottom lines of their business

The causes of poor mental health can be due to many factors including work stress, substance abuse, financial stress, relationship stress and/or caregiving responsibilities. Regardless of the source, the impact of poor mental health on both individual employees and organisations is profound.

The research is undisputable – the health (or ill-health) of an employee has a major effect on their performance at work. Download “7 biggest health issues facing your employees” and find out what you can do about it.

Your workplace wellness program needs continual promotion and nurturing to achieve engagement. Vitality Works achieves high levels of participation and engagement in our programs and services – here’s how. We call it our ‘Prescription for Participation’.

]]>The shift workers’ guide to better wellbeinghttp://www.vitalityworks.co.nz/the-shift-workers-guide-to-better-wellbeing/
Thu, 31 Mar 2016 05:21:23 +0000http://www.vitalityworks.co.nz/?p=2569Many of us don’t work a typical 9 to 5 job these days and if you happen to be a truck driver, nurse, fireman, miner, pilot or call centre worker (among others) you’ll often work shifts.

Shift work can play havoc with your physiology thanks to changes in work, eating and sleeping patterns. Research shows shift workers tend to have poor overall sleep quality, report feeling less refreshed upon waking and often suffer from gastrointestinal problems. Studies also indicate shift workers typically tend to snack more, eat more simple carbohydrates (sweets and refined grains), use more caffeine and alcohol and exercise less. If you’re a shift worker it may seem like the way to wellbeing is not well stacked in your favour but there is some good news – simply by tweaking what you eat and when you eat it can have a significant impact on your health and energy.

There are certain foods such as carbohydrates (think bread, rice, and pasta) that tend to have a sleep-inducing effect. The U.S. National Sleep Foundation call them ‘snooze foods’ for this reason because they contain an amino acid called tryptophan which can make you drowsy. Eating a large bowl of risotto before your night shift is probably not going to result in a high energy evening but choosing to eat your main meal of quality protein and vegetables in the early evening actually will help your productivity. To find out how to balance the right foods with your schedule, check out our top ten tips:

2. Drink plenty of water, BUT… drink less fluid at the end of a shift, before going to bed, so you don’t interrupt precious sleep with trips to the toilet!

3. Limit caffeine intake. Drink less than two “energy” drinks (go for sugar free) per day and no more than 3 coffees. A quick caffeine fix will increase alertness in the short term, however, avoid any caffeine within 6 hours of your sleep time otherwise it will affect the quality of your sleep

4. Emphasise high fibre and healthy fats in your food choices to help counteract the common ‘gastro’ symptoms associated with working at night (common medical complaints suffered by shift workers include: flatulence/burping, abdominal bloating, diarrhoea/constipation, acid reflux –heartburn). Part of the reason is that during the night the gut rests so digestive processes, such as bowel movements, are decreased compared to during the day.

5. Don’t miss out on vegetables! The main meal should be ‘dinner’ at home before your shift. Use frozen steamed vegetable packs for convenience.

6. Eat plenty of lean protein, especially just before going on shift because protein foods tend to have the opposite effect of carbohydrates (which make you sleepy). A great pre-shift main meal would be 150-200g steak or grilled fish + fist sized kumara mash + 1-2 cups stirfried vegetables.

7. For deeper, longer sleep ensure you don’t eat anything heavy within 3 hours of going to sleep. Try yoghurt and fruit. These can promote sleep.

8. Include at least 30 minutes of planned exercise most days of the week. By exercising you become fitter. Fitter people have more energy.

9. To feel better – eat less sugar in your treats, snacks and drinks. Change to “diet” or sugar free soft drinks, replace sugar in tea or coffee with an alternative sweetener.

10. Have a nap – this will boost your total sleep. Naps work best when they are either very short (about 20 minutes) OR if you have more time aim for 90 minutes (1 full sleep cycle).

]]>How to look after yourself during the holiday periodhttp://www.vitalityworks.co.nz/healthy-holiday-period/
Thu, 31 Mar 2016 05:13:55 +0000http://www.vitalityworks.co.nz/?p=2565Wellness over the Silly Season is not just about what we eat and drink, but also about how we feel!

In particular how we feel about ourselves. The better we feel, the more likely we are to make decisions that serve us well. Individually we all respond differently to the challenges presented at this time of the year – the pressure goes on with a perceived lack of time, (a shortened time frame) a seemingly overwhelming presence of food and alcohol, more events to attend, and little time for self.

How you can manage yourself

You have to know what is ok for you and what is not – put a stake in the sand and set your personal boundaries – these are the lines that, no matter what, you are not prepared to cross. Some examples of boundaries that work are:

Alcohol: “My normal boundary is not to drink more than 2 nights a week, and never more than 3 units a night. For December 1st to January 10th I allow myself 3 nights per week max.”

Nutrition: “My key areas of concern with nutrition are that I have a sweet tooth and I always eat way too much of any food on Christmas day or at BBQs. So for this period I set two boundaries:

I only have desserts 2 days per week and I REALLY enjoy them when I do;

One plate policy – I do not go back for seconds no matter what.”

What we know is that we all eat more than we think and we generally have terrible recall of exactly what we have eaten – the worst time to make a decision about eating and drinking is when the situation is right in front of us and we have no guiding principle or boundary. Remember that with alcohol added to the mix we introduce a threat – as our judgement is the first to go when we drink.

How do I determine my boundaries?

One of the ways we determine our boundaries is experience – in a quiet moment think about what you feel comfortable with (knowing what you are uncomfortable with is a great determining factor of boundaries for most of us). These are personal to YOU – relevant to what you eat and drink – be realistic, you want to enjoy yourself, feel comfortable and be in integrity with yourself. If you use this exercise to set rules that are punitive or deprivational you are going to bust these boundaries and not feel good about yourself! This is NOT about willpower or dieting or giving up anything – it’s about creating a plan that works for you and gives you the power of choice. Having a plan empowers you to know how to handle yourself around food and alcohol in a busy time of year, and not having to constantly negotiate on the spot achieves peace of mind. One of the ways we recommend you can manage this time of the year is to plan ahead!

So how do I plan?

Pick a time and day when you know you will be free from distractions, e.g. Sunday afternoon for 10 minutes and get the diary out for the next 7 days (i.e. Monday till Sunday). We have attached a planner for you to use AND we have included a row for exercise to commit to as well! Knowing what your boundaries are around food and alcohol, write down the events that you have on and mark in when you will be eating out, nights you will be drinking etc. If you have a limit of 2 nights per week to drink and 4 events involving alcohol happening that week the great thing is you will know very clearly where you will and where you will not be drinking – you can volunteer to be the driver! If your boundaries are around limits on takeaways – one of the great outcomes of planning ahead is that you can pretty accurately determine where your takeaways will be – perhaps a night with no opportunity to cook yourself a meal between work and an event.

Don’t make it complicated

If you are now looking at your plan and thinking, “But I have 4 events this week on different days and I want to drink at them all and eat dessert, I am going to miss out” – what exactly are you going to miss out on? The whole point of having a plan is that you make it work for you. You are the master of your wellness and instead of hopelessly falling into the round of drinks, eating and events, adding endless kilos and stressing your liver out, you take control and make it work for you! The peace of mind this offers you is priceless.

If at first you don’t succeed…

When you sit down the following Sunday and look at planning for the coming week – have a quick review of the previous week – what worked for you and what did not? There is no such thing as failure, only feedback . This is a good time to make some adjustments and changes to your environment that support your wellness plan, e.g. if you found someone handed you a drink on a planned alcohol-free night and you drank it – what would work better? Take an alcohol free drink with you rather than rely on others to supply it for you. Take something you really enjoy such as a refreshing sparkling water.

You don’t have to go into long explanations with anyone you refuse food or drink from. Someone else without boundaries may find you threatening and want to ‘unharness’ you. Keep it simple, just say, “No thanks I don’t feel like it”.

Remember, detox diets don’t work!

There is not a single scrap of evidence that they work. Imagine your body is a swimming pool and your liver is the filter – you can’t take it out and scrub it clean – but what you can do is take the stress off it, e.g. less alcohol, saturated fat and caffeine. Detox diets are seldom just about detoxing – we find that most people actually use them hoping to find a rapid weight drop.

Remember the benefits of exercise

Exercise is a wonderful stress buster and one of the few ways you can really boost your metabolism. You MUST make time for exercise – without question there will be a few sneaky calories you will be thinking about over the New Year – but don’t confuse the purpose of exercise as being used to ‘undo harm you have done to yourself’. We all need to move the body, day in and day out, so think about exercise as something you choose to do to be your best self. Renew yourself and strengthen your body with exercise. 3 or 4 days before you head back to work, get up a bit earlier to get your exercise in. That way it’s not a huge struggle to get up and exercise when you go back to work – use your time off as an opportunity to really nail it as a habit!

]]>Have a busy lifestyle? Introducing the 4-minute Tabata workouthttp://www.vitalityworks.co.nz/busy-lifestyle-workout/
Thu, 31 Mar 2016 05:05:07 +0000http://www.vitalityworks.co.nz/?p=2561Got 4 minutes? Then you’ve got time for a workout. With a consistent commitment a few times a week, this protocol will bring you great results.

Welcome to spring. It’s time to think about revitalising your energy levels and kicking back into a regular exercise routine (for those of us who succumbed to the cold, dark, mornings and evenings over winter). If the thought of this makes you cringe, don’t give up just yet, because we’ve got a great solution for you. We’re about to present a very efficient workout that has the potential to give even greater results than your typical trudge around the block and take less time! Introducing … Tabata training.

Tabata what?

The Tabata protocol is a form of High-Intensity Interval Training (or HIIT) that alternates short bursts of high intensity anaerobic training followed by even shorter recovery periods. It was originally devised by Irisawa Koichi, the head coach of the Japanese Speed Skating team in the 1990s, whose unusual training technique of short bursts with even shorter rest periods not only increased short term explosive strength but also long term endurance. Izumu Tabata, a coach under Koichi, was asked to analyse the effectiveness of the training method and published his findings in the 1996 journal “Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise”. Dr Tabata found that this technique resulted in a “very fast increase in VO2 max” (which is a measure of fitness), as well as improvements in anaerobic capacity (sprint, speed and power). For whatever reason, Tabata’s name became associated with the workout, rather than Koichi, but regardless of who it’s named after, the research shows the protocol works. In fact the group of people who did a 4-minute Tabata session 5 times per week showed more improvement than a control group who did 1 hour of steady training 5 times a week, over the course of 6 weeks.

In other words …

the people who did a total of 120 minutes exercise over 6 weeks had MORE improvements than those who did 1800 minutes!

So what is a Tabata workout?

The protocol for this workout is really easy: 20 seconds of maximum effort, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated 8 times (for a total of 4 minutes).

The key is going hard enough in the 20 second effort, and then as easy as possible for the 10 seconds of recovery. How hard is hard? Dr Tabata explains it as “if you feel ok after the session you have not done it right! The first three sessions should be easy and the last two should feel impossibly hard.” It can also be described as a feeling of “jelly-legs” during the final couple of efforts. So basically by the time you have finished you should feel pretty shattered, but remember it’s all worth it for the efficient routine and quick results. Tabata training not only improves fitness, but also helps build muscle and enables fat burning for several hours following the workout by increasing metabolic rate. All this means the 4 minutes of training equates to more bang for your buck!

Another bonus of Tabata training is that it can be done with a number of different exercises. An indoor bike is ideal (and is how Dr Tabata conducted his research), but a rowing machine or running sprints are other options, as are weight bearing exercises such as burpees, squat jumps, skipping or star jumps.

To get the best out of your Tabata workout

Make sure your body is ready. Warm-up properly – get a sweat on and include a few easy repeats of the exercise you’ll be doing in the workout (e.g. some press-ups, burpees, fast spinning on the bike etc).

Do your Tabata workout in the morning to raise your metabolism, and burn more energy throughout the day.

Alternate exercises during the workout to add some variety (e.g. burpees for the first 20 seconds, alternated with star jumps for the other 20 seconds).

Start off easy. Treat your first few Tabata workouts as practice as your body gets used to the movements involved and higher intensities.

Important things to remember:

Scale the workout to your level of fitness. Not everyone will be able to start off with sprints on a bike or burpees. If a fast walk up a hill is going to get you breathing hard and your heart rate elevated, then this is the level where you should begin.

The Tabata training protocol only works if you are not already fatigued. That means it is best to do it as a stand-alone workout (i.e. don’t combine it with a weights sessions, or a long run etc.) It is most effective if you have an easy warm-up, do the Tabata session, then finish with an easy warm-down.

Aim for 3-4 times per week maximum. Any more than this and you’ll be compromising the point above, and won’t recover properly for next time.

Tabata, HIIT and all interval sessions are only effective if you ensure there is significant difference between the effort (i.e. hard part) and the recovery (i.e. easy part). If you are not going easy enough to recover properly, each subsequent effort will lose its effectiveness as you start to draw on different energy systems.

And finally, if you’re not currently exercising regularly, we recommend checking up with a registered and qualified health professional before getting into it

]]>A day off your money: how to take back control of your financeshttp://www.vitalityworks.co.nz/control-your-finances/
Thu, 31 Mar 2016 04:50:39 +0000http://www.vitalityworks.co.nz/?p=2546Martin Hawes is an Authorised Financial Adviser and a disclosure statement is available on request and free of charge or can be found at www.martinhawes.com. This article is of a general nature and is not personalised financial advice.

For a lot of people, money is one of the biggest stress points in life. Living from payday to pay with never quite enough is no fun and, worse still, it takes a lot of time, effort and energy: living on the financial edge has a big impact on many other areas of life. People who struggle to make ends meet are too busy keeping their heads above the water to ever be able to make a plan to improve their situations. And so they lurch from crisis to crisis spending years and decades unable to ever get ahead. The stress that this causes makes life tough: relationships fail, work performance suffers and families and health are neglected. For some, money stress can be the start of a downward spiral that engulfs pretty much every part of life. Sometimes, to break the spiral you just have to stop: take a day off and dedicate that day to sorting a plan for your money. This is a bit like taking a step backwards so that you can take some steps forward. The day off may lose you a day’s pay but that may be necessary to get ahead: taking control of your finances is too difficult to do late at night or squeezed in between all of your other commitments.

A day off to sort your money might be just the circuit breaker you need.

Keep your money strategy day simple: there are really only a couple of things that you have to do to wrest back control. The first thing that you have to look at is income and expenditure – you must have a surplus or you will not get move forward. That means that you have to either reduce expenditure or increase income (maybe both!). Go to moneysmart.gov.au or sorted.org.nz and use the budget calculators. You should set up a system so that you can easily see where your money is going and this includes monitoring those little expenditures that you make with cash. It is only when you know where your money is going that you can decide whether or not you are getting good value for the expenditure. You may have to be ruthless when it comes to cost-cutting and make some changes to the way that you live. That means enrolling the support of your partner and your children – less spending means lifestyle changes and they will need to know why that is important. Don’t forget the income side of the equation: upskilling does take time but the right training and education will mean more money. It won’t be a quick fix but it could eventually break the vicious spiral that you are in. When you are sure that you will have a surplus, the second thing is to have a look at your debts. Whether these are the mortgage, credit cards or hire purchase it is important to prioritise and apply every cent that you have to debt reduction. The financial death spiral is faster and deeper with debt and if you have money stress the chances are that it is caused or at least exacerbated by debt. If you can, consolidate high-interest debt onto low-interest facilities (e.g. use your mortgage to pay off hire purchase or credit card) and then resolve to never take on such debt again (cut up the credit card or store card). Accelerate debt repayment by putting all of your surpluses to debt repayment. Getting control of debt may take time (perhaps a year or two) but, as long as you do not take on more debt, time and application of your surplus will bring it to heel. If your day off sees you with a budget surplus and a plan to take control of debt it will be well worthwhile. Set a date in your diary to do it again a year later and to measure progress. There is no quick fix but good money management is so important that getting out of the daily drivel for a day might be the best investment you ever made.

]]>Good Financial Futures – Teaching healthy financial habits to your kidshttp://www.vitalityworks.co.nz/teaching-kids-financial-habits/
Tue, 29 Mar 2016 03:02:09 +0000http://www.vitalityworks.co.nz/?p=2420Martin Hawes is a financial author, seminar presenter and an Authorised Financial Adviser. He has written over 20 books, many of which have appeared on the best-sellers list. He has written for many major newspapers and financial magazines. In this article Martin shares with us some tips to ensure our children get healthy financial habits, setting them up for their good financial futures.

No matter how much money you have, you will not live well and be happy if you lurch from one financial crisis to the next.

“Money can make people unhappy just as it can make them happy and this is only partly about the amount of it that you have.”

Just as important as the amount you have is the way you manage and look after it; whether you live payday to payday or execute a plan that keeps you in control and, eventually, gets you ahead.

Good money management is mostly about the right habits and the right attitudes. These are best learned young. Young children may barely be able to do numbers but they will pick up attitudes and mindsets: your approach to money becomes your children’s approach to money. When a bit older, children can learn good habits and some money skills.

Children are likely to learn more about money (its joys and its griefs) from their parents than from any other source. If they see you staggering under a burden of debt and struggling to live pay day to payday, they will understand that behaviour to be acceptable and normal. Any of your bad money habits and attitudes can become your children’s.

On a more positive note, your good habits and attitudes can also become your children’s. This is a case of getting your own house in order and then sharing it fully with the family. This means you need to aim to:

Live within your means

Have debt only for things that build value (e.g. a house)

Pay off your credit card every month

Contribute to KiwiSaver

Importantly! Be in control of your money rather than the other way round

If children learn from you, they also learn by doing. They will pick up your attitudes to money simply by watching and listening, but, when they are old enough, they will learn the skills of money by managing it.

I think children should be given money tasks: for example, pocket money is a good idea but payments should come with a requirement for an expenditure plan. Also known as a budget, such a plan would mean on a weekly basis that your children would know where their money was going before they got it (the plan would leave a little money for discretionary purchases).

Your children need to learn that they can have anything – but they cannot have everything. Making an expenditure plan is about setting priorities as they decide what they will have and what they will not have. Saving may also be a part of this. If pocket money is $10 per week, children will need to understand that they can only make a big purchase if they put something aside. Just $2 per week means $100 saved each year.

A bit like a superannuation you may subsidise and so incentivise the saving and so the child ends up with the ability to make a $200 purchase. That should be a big enough purchase to reward the good behaviour and perhaps turn saving into a habit.

There are some things that children cannot learn by doing: you are probably not going to let your 12 year old buy a house and mortgage it, nor open a superannuation account. However, you can let your children sit with you while you do these kinds of things.

For example, decide to change your mortgage or term deposits. Sit with your children at the computer while you look at the options. Look at the key factors for the right type of account or mortgage (e.g. whether it is good or bad interest, the amount of fees, past returns) and, with the children listening, think out loud.

More than anything, your children need to know that money is important. Money gives choices but its management can create havoc or peace depending on how well you do it. Teach your children well.

Martin Hawes is an Authorised Financial Adviser and a disclosure statement is available on request and free of charge, or can be found at www.martinhawes.com. This article is of a general nature and is not personalised financial advice.

When we think of the benefits of volunteering, the first thing that comes to mind is the impact of the volunteer activities on the health of the community and those being served. However, more and more research is demonstrating that we can get as much out of volunteering as the people we are giving our time for or to.

In fact, studieshave shown that when we give to others it activates the areas of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection and trust.

Altruistic behaviour releases endorphins in the brain and boosts happiness for us as well as the people we help. Some studies have even shown that giving money away tends to make people happier than spending it on themselves. Basically, by giving to a cause or to helping others through volunteering and in other ways we can help reduce our risk of depression and anxiety and boost our personal wellbeing and happiness.

One country that seems to have embraced this concept is Denmark. In his book ‘The Blue Zones’, Author Dan Beutenter outlines some of the reasons they believe Denmark is consistently rated among the world’s happiest countries. One of these reasons is their high participation rates in volunteering. They found that 30 percent of Danes volunteer their time to benefit their communities. This makes for a healthier society and helps people take the focus off their own troubles.

Next steps on being selfishly

Selfless Whether it’s a one-off or something you do on a regular basis, volunteering is good all round. As well as making a positive contribution to the happiness of others, it’s a great way to meet people, get the most out of your local area and to increase your own happiness and wellbeing.

If volunteering your services or time is something that you would like to do there are a few things you can do to get started. Check out the following two steps from the Action for Happiness organisation to get started.

Step 1:

Think about what sort of volunteering would work best for you practically. You are likely to make the biggest impact if it fits with our situation, likes and skills. A good place to get started is to think about:
• How much time am I able and willing to give?
• How regularly? E.g. once per week, per month, every other weekend?
• What skills am I willing to offer? (Often just a spare pair of hands or a friendly voice is enough)
• What skills might I like to learn?
• What would I enjoy doing? E.g. something physical, like gardening or sports coaching; something office-based or something out and about, like taking older or physically impaired people shopping.

Step 2:

There are lots of ways to find volunteering opportunities that are a good fit for you. You can look for chances to help out locally in places such as the local library, local papers, and community notice boards or on your council’s website for opportunities in your area. Alternatively, you can check out volunteering websites that provide opportunities and information.